The thunderous clouds rolled past them as Bea tried hard not to be sick. She wasn't sure if it was Fifteen's flying or the plane itself that kept shaking up and down. Her fingers moulded to the plane, trying to keep herself steady but with each painful jolt she lost her footing.

"Can you try and steady it?" She had to yell for Fifteen to hear.

Fifteen didn't spare her a response, keeping her concentration solely on the air before her.

The tin contraption suddenly lurched forward, as if the plane had crashed landed in mid-air. A sting of flames whirred outside and Fifteen gripped the plane with both hands. Her usual stoic expression now wide with fear.

"What the hell is that!" Beatrice cried, her stomach lurching just as a bright splatter of light filtered across the sky around them.

"Hold on!"

Fifteen turned the plane. Bea's hands burned with pain as she held onto a pole stretching from the top of the bottom. Her stomach twisting in somersaults with the plane spinning to avoid something. A bombing crash sounding like lightening was left behind them. A spray of colour opened up the sky. As the sky lit, Bea could finally see outside of the misty clouds where rockets were being fired up at them.

"Shit." She cursed, opening up the time portal on her arm and ready to escape out of there at a moment's notice. Fifteen saw her and slapped her hand down.

"Put that away, we can't leave."

"We could die!"

"We need the tesseract."

Another explosion sounded to their left which Fifteen only narrowly missed, "If we die it'll be for nothing."

"Have I taught you nothing? I'm an excellent pilot… speaking of which, I'm not going to be able to land."

"Excuse me?" If she couldn't land then what were they doing in a fucking plane? Beatrice closed her eyes, trying to drown out the sound of bombs exploding behind them. It was easier said than done. "Where is the Hydra base?"

"According to this, it's below us and I'm assuming by the rockets being fired at us then I'm right."

"So… SO HOW DO WE GET DOWN THERE!"

She wished Fifteen would just let her in on her plans rather than ominously giving her bits of information every now and then, "you're going to have to jump."

"Fuck off."

"There should be a parachute back there."

"Fifteen… no… what the hell…"

She couldn't even see out of the window, let alone jumping out into that chaos. How would she be able to tell where the ground was. She wasn't trained to jump out of planes. What if something was wrong with the parachute?

Not to mention she was still in this stupid dress that barely covered her arse. She hadn't thought to change. Everything had happened so fast.

"Can you fly a plane?" Fifteen shot back over her shoulder at her.

"No."

"Then you need to be the one to jump. I can't land but you can get down the-" her sentence was cut short as she spun the plane manically and Bea almost fell onto the controls, "It's now or never! As much as you hate it… You're an Avenger. Start acting like one."

Sometimes being brave is doing the exact thing you don't want to do. She had told Brooke that was why she was leaving her behind, to be brave. She would be the first to admit she hadn't felt brave for five years. Courage was a distant concept to her. How could she be brave when she had so much to lose?

Bucky.

She had already lost him. Maybe if she could find enough courage, she could save him.

Not halting for a second longer, she sprung to action and grabbed the parachute hanging off a broken hanger. The straps were loose on her, so she pulled it tighter until she felt it dig under her arms. She didn't want any risk of the parachute falling off of her mid jump. With each step to the open door, she felt the plane jolt up and down, vibrating under her feet and if she wasn't careful she could be thrown out.

"Where will I meet you again."

Fifteen struggled to keep the plane under control and her voice came out in a short burst, "I have no idea!"

"Back at the base?"

"Sure."

"See you soon then, I guess," Bea smiled nervously up at her friend.

"Find the tesseract and then we can all go home."

Bea dared look out at where she was supposed to jump and regretted it instantly. She could even see where in the sky they were. Grey clouds mixed with strong wind flooded around her and even though she shook from cold all she could feel was the nervous sweats soaking into her socks.

Thinking of only Bucky, she stepped from the plane. Her stomach dropped with her when she didn't step out and immediately press against something solid. The wind clung to her short dress. She felt as if ice was moulding around her body. Tumbling down. Breaking through the clouds until she could make out small dotted lights on the floor. Breathing wasn't an option. The loud rush of wind whipped past her ears. Convinced she was going to die, with shaky hands she tugged at the parachute.

The parachute released, bringing her body with it. Finally, a breath managed to escape her, filling her lungs with well needed oxygen as her blood pumped furiously through her veins making her shake.

"Fuck." She cursed, fisting the straps of her parachute tightly, not daring to let go in case she fell. She couldn't believe she'd just done that, "fuck… fuck… fuck."

Suddenly a rocket launched past her. An explosion of light filled the sky. A glitter of red and orange, blinding her. Bea's neck creaked as she snapped up to look at it. The plane she had just been standing in, splintered into a million pieces. Fifteen was at the heart of it.

"FIFTEEN!" she tried to yell but her scream wasn't possible to be heard over the thunderous explosion that vibrated across the sky. Her hands shook. She wanted the parachute to glide her upwards to see if she was okay -but, how could she be alright. She had just been sitting in the middle of an explosion.

Maybe she got away… used the time GPS.

She wouldn't know. She couldn't use it herself and check. Fifteen's last words to her was get the tesseract so they could go home.

She hung in the air, feeling useless. The ground slowly coming towards her.

Was she dead? She looked up, wanting to see another parachute gliding down with Fifteen at the end of it. All she could see was the endless blackness as the rockets had stopped and the blip of the fire from the plane slowly dying out.

With shaky hands, she managed to navigate the parachute to the ground. She expected to meet the grass and just fall tight through. Slip into an open void to see if she could find Fifteen. Her eyes kept looking upwards just to make sure. It was as if the plane had never been there. The sky was now perfectly still.

Either way, Fifteen was either dead or not in this universe. She was truly alone.

Fifteen, you better be alright. She thought, holding onto the thin sliver of hope that she had transported herself out of there.

She needed to get the tesseract. It was Fifteen's final order to her.

*~It started with Pizza~*

The Hydra base was huge. She had no idea how to navigate it. She spent half the time dodging Hydra guards until she finally decided to knock one out and take their uniform. It was much better than running around in a short skirt and tights. She slipped the uniform over her skirt. It was much too baggy, and she now knew why Hydra was so bad at shooting as the helmet's eye piece wasn't great for actually seeing.

She was carefully following heat signatures on a device Tony had given her. It was supposed to tell her where the tesseract energy readings were coming from so she could find it, like a map. The problem was she wasn't really sure how to use it. Steve was supposed to be the one using it. It took her twenty minutes just to find the 'on' button. But now all it did was keep blinking a flashing green light with every step she took on a radar. All she could do was step in the direction of the flashing light and hope for the best.

Pacing down a Hydra hallway that looked just as similar to the one she had just gone now, suddenly chaos erupted around her. Red lights bleeped off of the walls and Hydra agents sprung to action, their guns ready as they ran past her in the opposite direction.

Had they discovered her? No, they would have shot her there and then rather than running past her. What… wait… Steve… if she recalled events right, Steve would be breaking into the Hydra base tonight and freeing all the prisoners. She looked for any sign that she was correct when she found a window and saw all the prisoners charging at the Hydra soldiers. With their guns blasting some of the prisoners were hit by the tesseract energy coming from the guns and disappeared without a trace into a flash of blue light.

The tesseract must have powered those weapons, meaning it was definitely here. Right? – Oh, she didn't know. Shewas clueless.

If she was correct, it meant the Hydra base would blow up soon and the tesseract would be with red skull.

She might not know much, but she sure as hell paid attention in History class when Captain America was her favourite subject. She used to day dream about what it would be like to go back and fight along side Captain America in the war. Little did she know, that would actually happen.

"benign, d-d-day b-break," A quite voice whispered from the door to the left.

The voice startled her and on instinct she pulled her Hydra gun from her belt, pointing it at the door. It was a shabby room at the bottom of the facility like a forgotten piece of Hydra. It surly wasn't a Hydra agent behind the door, otherwise they'd be joining the action. Even still, she kept her guard up, her fingers residing heavily on the trigger of her gun. She had no qualms about blasting someone into blue light.

She stepped inside the room but it seemed no one was to be seen but the quite stillness that seemed to emit from this room put her on edge. A fight was going on outside and Beatrice could hear nothing of it.

Walking past a large map of she noted pins stuck on in certain areas… were these the other Hydra bases? perhaps she should write this down…

"H-h-homecoming... Steve… frieightcar," the voice said again. Something flickered in the back of her memory. Why was it weirdly familiar? She stepped closer, distastefully turning her nose up at the mess as maps layered over one another with bottles of odd substances lined the walls. It was the perfect crazy scientist lair. Goodness knows whoever's voice that was, was probably the words of a mad scientist gone insane-

Wait did he just say Steve?

"rusted, furnace."

The random gibberish would seem just that… like random gibberish to a normal civilian but Bea had heard those words before. She had seen Bucky writing them down for her to be aware of them, and had seem him lose his memory as if someone had flicked a switch in his head at the mere mention of these randomly selected words.

"B-Bucky?"

Her gun was no longer a necessity. She abandoned it on the side and raced to the voice. Unclasping her helmet and dropping it onto the floor. If it was true, she wanted to see him clearly.

Then there he was. Lying flat out on a stretcher. Pinned down by straps tight across his chest. He was… actually there…

Not daring to wait she reached over and touched his face, checking he was real and not a cruel illusion her mind had made up. For a moment Bucky's eyes were unfocused staring up at the ceiling as if not really seeing. She could see scratches marked onto his face, but there wasn't nearly as many scars as when she knew him. Nor did he have the scuff of the beard she had become so used too. his face was younger too.

With the reminder that this wasn't her Bucky, she pulled away her hands just as she blinked into his vision and his eyes properly focused on her. A moment of panic flashed across his face as he looked around the room.

"Where's Zola?"

Zola… the scientist who had injected him with the serum and turned him into the winter soldier. She already figured he had the super soldier serum running through his veins without even knowing it.

"Uh… he's not here," She said dumbly.

His eyes opened. His blue eyes staring back at her.

"it's just me," She finished.

Could she save him? She wasn't even sure what happened here. Bucky 'died' falling off a train, he didn't die in a Hydra facility but was she supposed to wait for whatever saved him in the normal timeline to save him again or could she save him now.

She couldn't just leave him.

"Come on. I'll help you stand and we can get out of here."

Undoing the straps, she helped Bucky to his feet.

"Who are you?"

"No one," She answered quickly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to help support him.

She was saved the further questioning when a rustling from outside sounded. Quickly, she picked up her gun that she had dropped.

"Are you Hydra?" Bucky asked, looking down at her uniform and gun in her hand. She must admit she looked the part.

"Not a chance, I'm just undercover – look," in an attempt to gain his trust, she unzipped her uniform and unveiled the Captain America attire underneath. Probably wasn't the smartest move as Bucky went from looking at her fearfully to looking at her like she was deranged and needed to be put in a mental asylum.

"is that some kind of Halloween costume?"

"I wouldn't wear this to a Halloween party in a million years."

"Who is there?" Asked a thick German voice from the other side of the room. She tightened her grip on Bucky, willing him to stay quiet. Her finger was prepped and ready on the trigger but the man behind the voice seemed to give up as seconds later footsteps slapped against the concrete echoed down the corridor.

"That was Zola," Bucky whispered, "he's been jabbing me with needles."

"He won't be jabbing you anymore," She told him, "Come on, let's go."

The feel of his body around hers was nothing unnatural, it was strange to finally hold him again but not truly belong there.

"No, seriously… what's with the costume?"

Did he have to pay attention to it? All she wanted now was to go back and get the Hydra suit back on, "I was – uh – in a dance."

"And now you're here?"

"Funny old world."

Bucky was relying on her to keep him up, but she wasn't strong enough to keep him up and they hobbled slowly across the floor. The tesseract was a distant memory in her head. She just needed to get Bucky out of here-

"Buck!"

They rounded a corner and came face to face with Steve Rogers, dressed fully in a Captain America outfit. He stepped into the light, looking straight at Bucky who was still dangling pathetically from her arms as she tried to hold him up.

"Steve!" Bucky smiled. She had seen him smile a thousand times at her like that, but not this time, "when did you get so big."

The two boys hugged and Bea finally let Bucky go. When the boys pulled apart, Steve wrapped his arm around his shoulders, helping him walk. It was much more sensible to let him carry him, but she couldn't deny she missed the feel off his body around hers.

"Thank you," He nodded once at her, "you – wait, why… why are you wearing that? From my tour?"

"On you're what?" Bucky frowned up at Steve.

"I remember you. You knocked into me and said-"

"I was undercover the whole time," She lied quickly, "I was working to take Hydra down."

"and being part of my tour was part of taking down… Hydra?"

She shook her head, wishing to get the memory of that dance and outfit out of her mind, "That was a mistake. I was shoved onto stage. I wasn't part of the act."

"Right… and… you're still wearing it…"

"Can we stop pointing out the fact I'm wearing this costume! I know it's hideous…"

Bucky looked her up and down, "I wouldn't say that…"

Lighting up a brilliant red, if it was anyone other than Bucky that said that, they'd be getting a swatting but she wasn't sure what to say. Her Bucky had taken ages to start flirting with her, but this version had barely known her five minutes.

Silence lingered between the three of them. Bea couldn't help her eyes drifting back and forth between the two men. She wished so deeply she could talk to Steve, and get his help. How on earth was she supposed to find – "The tesseract!" She exclaimed loudly. All of a sudden remembering her mission. Swiftly, she spun on her heel and began to run along the corridor.

She could hear the boys behind her trying to keep up. With Steve dragging along Bucky behind him, it was probably the first time in her life she was able to outrun him.

"Hang on!" Steve called behind her, "The what?"

As she ran, she tapped the energy reading on her palm, it was still telling her to go forward but there were only stairs in front of her. Pulling herself up them, she could still see Steve and Bucky chasing behind her. With each passing step Bucky seemed to find his feet and was no longer holding onto Steve quite so much. Unknown to him, it was the super soldier serum healing him quicker.

Just as she reached the first floor, sparks scattered beneath them and an abrupt explosion erupted. As if timed, it carried on throughout the warehouse, exploding everything one by one. Bea ducked behind a pillar to avoid any debris but there was no need, they were too high to feel the effects, expect the rumble of the floor.

Below them, everything was ablaze. The fire licked up at them, and the heat sweltered in the room.

"You guys should get out of here," She yelled over her shoulder. She still had to get the tesseract.

"I think this is the only way out."

"Keep going up!" Steve screamed, running ahead of her but stopped to come back and drag her up with them. He held up the shield and covered her when a particular flame reached up to them.

"Thanks."

"What are you after?" He screamed at her as they carried on up. She slipped up every step, having to crawl on her hands. The whole building was shaking as if it would collapse any second.

As another explosion erupted, it gave her time to think of an answer. She'd already screamed that she was after the tesseract in his face. He would work out what the tesseract was eventually. But she'd also already told Bucky that she was undercover. How did this whole spy thing work, telling lie after lie?

"The tesseract," She decided to be honest. She could do with their help anyway, as soon as she had it in her hands she could get out of here and get the real Bucky back, "it's like a blue box thing."

Steve looked at Bucky and with his eyes asked him if he knew anything about it but Bucky shook his head, "I've been down in the basement the whole time. I wouldn't know anything."

"If we don't get out of here soon, this whole building's going to explode," Steve assessed, staring at the crumbling ceiling as bits started to fall down, "I'm sorry but I think this tesseract is lost."

She doubted that. The guy… Red Skull… should have it.

"Captain America!" came a triumphant voice from the other side of the barrier. There was two of them. She recognised Zola almost immediately. He was small and timid, clutching at a case protectively. She almost wished he would trip and fall in immediately. But, it was the man beside him that had spoken as he walked towards them across the bridge with an arrogant poise, "how exciting. I'm a great fan of your films."

She stood back with Bucky, nervously she reached over and clutched his arm.

She knew Steve and Bucky got out of this. There was no need to panic. She realised what she was doing as Bucky gripped her hand with a soft smile, and she quickly let go. She needed to remember this wasn't her Bucky!

"So, Doctor Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement, but still impressive."

Steve didn't respond but pulled his fist back and punched the man in the face. Red Skull tumbled back from the hit, but not quite as far back as Bea was used to seeing men fly when punched by Steve.

The man pulled himself up again with ease and pulled back his own punch. Steve held up the shield to block it but as the man pulled away, a fist shaped dent was left behind. They seemed to be equally matched.

Zola reacted first and pulled a lever. The bridge sprung apart, Steve on one side and the mysterious man on the other. Both heaved glares from the other side.

"No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success." Bea could have gagged. He began to pull his skin away as if it was merely a mask. Thin strips of skin he dropped into the firey pit burning below them. Unmasked, underneath his skin he was revealed to be completely red, tightened around his bones making him look like a literal skull.

Now at least she knew where the name red skull came from. It wasn't very creative.

"You don't have one of those, do you?" Bucky wondered.

"You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind."

Bea was barely concentrating to what he was saying. His words were delusional. There was a reason he was remembered in history on the same page as Hitler. All she could think was, If this was Red skull, then where was the tesseract? He wouldn't leave without it.

On her wrist, she tapped the energy reading. It pointed directly at Zola. Or more specifically, the case in his hands.

"The case," She nudged Bucky, "It's in the case!"

Red Skull heard her, and he stopped his speech to scan her up and down, "Ah. You know of the tesseract, and where might a simple woman such as yourself have heard of its legend?"

She shivered when his eyes focused on hers. His face was all red, but his eyes were black pebbles drilling into hers.

"Somewhere far away," She gulped.

"Hm…" His eyes narrowed. Another explosion broke his eyes from hers as him and Zola slowly backed away. They were cowards fleeing their own base. If she had to guess, she would guess that it was Red Skull that had blown it up. They entered a lift but he turned to say one last thing to Steve, "I must be off but, unlike you, I embrace my power proudly."

"Then why are you running!"

The lift doors closed and they were gone. Bea sprinted to the edge of the bridge, to check if they could jump. She needed that case.

"We've got to get across!" She implored. The jump was too large.

"We've got no choice but to go up."

"Whatever is in that case, it's not worth dying over… let's go," Bucky said, reaching a hand out to pull her from the ledge.

He had no idea what the tesseract was worth.

Steve ushered them forward, "Come on!"

A large part of the ceiling, crackled beside them and suddenly slipped lose, missing them narrowly.

Steve and Bucky got out of this the first time. She was sure… but what if she had accidently changed something. Smoke burned her lungs. She was too tired to pull herself up any further as Steve was practically dragging her along.

Finally, they reached the top where there were no more stairs to climb and… no way out.

"There!" Steve blurted, pointing a finger at unstable beam that spread across the two sides. It didn't look supported, as if it could fall any moment, but it was the best chance they had.

They got out the first time. She kept repeating like a prayer, almost being sick when she looked down and saw the falling distance with the fire reaching up below them. From this distance it looked like hot lava.

Why was she constantly doing heights today?

"We've got no other choice to cross."

"Do we have too?" She groaned, holding tightly to the railings.

"Let's go. One at a time."

"Ladies first," Bucky winked at her, gesturing for her to go first but her feet remained paralysed. This was different from jumping out of a plane. She had the parachute to catch her. If she fell, it would mean certain death and the definite death of half the universe.

Her vision of the fall was suddenly blocked by Bucky's face bringing her back.

"Hey, you alright?" Bucky noticed her fearful gaze, "I'll test it out first… okay? And you follow after."

She wanted to be sick so kept her mouth shut for fear it would just spill out and settled for a curt nod.

As carefully as he could, Bucky climbed across the railings. The beam gave an awful creak as his feet landed.

This was probably how they got out last time… she assured herself as the beam slipped down an inch and Bucky almost toppled over. She ripped out a scream, no longer paralysed and ready to jump over and save him but he balanced himself in time and made it to the other side.

"See? Easy," Bucky laughed nervously as he pulled himself over the railings, "Your turn."

"You gotta go," Steve pushed her.

She climbed over and held onto the railings as long as she could until she was further than an arm's length and had to let go. The beam was thinner than it looked and she made the mistake of looking down-

"Holy fuck!" She exclaimed when she saw what she was standing over. It was a cauldron of heat festering.

"Don't look down!" Bucky calmed her, reaching a hand out over the railing as far as he could reach. It didn't seem that far now that she looked at him, "just take a step at a time."

"I don't mean to rush you but we gotta get out of here," Steve urged from behind her.

Shut up Steve! If this was her Steve, she'd be openly scolding him right now, but she was pretty sure she wasn't on that level of friendship with this version of him yet.

One step at a time…

Bravely she attempted one. The beam creaked under her weight.

Just another little one. She jumped forward this time, trying to make it a bigger step. The beam slipped and her heart seized. Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited to fall.

"You're alright. Open your eyes," Bucky told her. "You've got to keep moving."

Keep moving… she was halfway over it now, she might as well go quickly to get it over and done with. Treading carefully, she followed the beam along until she was less than a metre from his hand when she could feel the rumble of the metal beneath her trying to hold on.

Suddenly, it completely slipped and Bea's body lurched downwards. She waited to feel the gasp of hot wind rush past her as she fell down and the pain of her body cracking when she'd reach the floor only to be immediately burnt alive but none of it came.

Cracking her eyes open, her fingers were tightly wrapped around Bucky's who was half dangling over the edge to catch her.

"I got you," He grunted, pulling her over the side with him.

"Did-did the beam fall?"

Now she really wanted to be sick.

"It did," Bucky breathed hopelessly, getting up to look across at Steve after Bea collapsed on the other side of the railings.

He looked so tiny on the other side as he looked around for another solution but gave up, "go! Both of you… just get out of here."

"No! not without you!"

Had she done this? Would the beam not have slipped if she hadn't stood on it? Were they supposed to both make it to the other side?

"Oh god… I'm so sorry."

Bucky didn't respond, his eyes transfixed on Steve. The heat was rising. Bea could tell by the scraping of metal rubbing against each other the building wouldn't last much longer and somehow the fire was still rising. It was a wonder she could still breathe amongst the smoke.

In a last attempt to escape, Steve bent the metal railing, and paced backwards to give himself some running room.

"No…" Bea uttered under her breath. Steve's grand escape plan was to jump it. How- How was that supposed…

Before Bea or Bucky could stop him, Steve had already taken the leap. For a split second she could see him in flight, his arms stretched out, ready to catch onto the other side. All of a sudden, his body disappeared as an array of smoke and fire sparked around him.

Had… had she just killed Captain America?

A loud thunk sounded next to them making the two of them jump. Dirty hands climbed up and grabbed the railings, heaving himself over.

"You did it?"

Bucky stared agape, "you were terrible at gymnastics at school. Where did you learn that?"

"Guess the serum made some changes."

"I say…"

Steve slapped Bucky on the back, "we've got to move before this whole thing collapses."

A/N

So Fifteen is gone and Bea's in the 1940s alone and failed her mission because she saw Bucky again... I mean who wouldn't become instantly struck and forget about everything else if they saw him. Let me know what you thought.

and whose excited for the Falcon and the winter soldier?!

LunaEvanna Longbottom: So glad you found the slutty Captain America costume funny because I literally wrote an extra 1000 words just to put it into the story and then realised how pointless it was *face palm*. Do I regret it? Maybe a little. haha. Thanks for reviewing. Always love hearing your thoughts on the chapter :D

NeoMulder: Thank you so much for the review! i toyed between sending Beatrice back to the period of Age of Ultron where she could see Bucky again (and going after the mind stone) or 1940's. and I knoww... Natasha's death killed me in Endgame because I really wasn't expecting it. I haven't written the part yet where Bea finds out but I know it's going to kill me when I finally get to it.